Oh you sneaky food you.

Misiaxcore

So I was grocery shopping today, looking for some instant pudding powder to add into my Greek yoghurt and shakes. The chocolate pudding that I used to get back in the day now had an almost twin brother sitting beside it! It was bragging on the package how low fat it is and stuff. So I compared the two, thinking maybe it had more of something else that wasn't all that healthy. Couldn't find it. A lot lower calories, no fat, lower sodium, lower carbs, no sugar?! Wow, too good to be true, but I stood there, mentally scratching my head trying to figure out why it appeared to be much "healthier."

Then I saw the ingredients: aspartame :huh:

I bought the original.

MissFit0101

Yup always happens!

Almost anything that's sugarfree has aspartame in it... or some other artificial sweetener.

H_Factor

asparLAME

HMonsterX

Why didn't you buy it just because it had aspartame in it? Sorry, I really don't understand why people still consider it to be the devil. Have you had bad experiences with it in the past, or are you just getting on the chemical bandwagon?

digitalsteel

I do try to avoid foods with aspartame in them, just because I try to limit my man made foods. However, that being said, I would take aspartame over sugar. Its side affects are not as overblown as they have come to be, and sugar actually has a much longer list of problems it causes.

In short, I'd prefer something natural like stevia, but I think a little aspartame is better than the same quantity of sugar.

HMonsterX

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/361640-aspartame-another-hotly-debated-topic?hl=aspartame#posts-4914737

DrG3n3

I'm genuinely curious as well. I've read many scientific papers (as a geneticist, we get access to a lot of journals for free) and have found no causative evidence for anything. I believe if you have PKU it's not recommended, however. I go with aspartame over sugar unless its sugars in fruits.

shanlynt

A girl at work mixes her plain yogurt with cocoa powder and stevia. I haven't it yet though.

dbthegreat

Hi, Sorry I am new here but had to have a little comment on this. While I don't go out of my way to exclude aspartame I do try and avoid it where I can.

I only have to see the effect that a fruit shoot has on my children to tell that there is something wrong about it. They regularly consume chocolate, sugar even caffeine sometimes with little noticeable change in their activity levels or behaviour. One small fruit shoot which contains aspartame will initially send them off the wall. The scream, run, shout, climb. They literally can not keep still or quiet. After this they crash. They are naughty, cry a lot, whinge a lot, have full blown tantrums. Normally they are pretty well behaved. The change in them is so obvious in the short term that I have to wonder what long term exposure would do.

Maybe there is no evidence to prove that it is a devil substance but I would prefer not to take a risk on my or my children's well being.

DrG3n3

I believe it is your choice as a parent rather you want them to consume this product or not, but as a scientist I find it extremely hard to believe the aspartame is what does this to your children. Again, you have that right, I am in no way saying you do not.